Do you have a MUDROOM?
Comments (27)
persnicketydesign
15 years agoOur cubbies were probably the best thing that we did when we built the new house! They run the length of a 12' wall and connect the breakfast room and laundry. Across from them is the entrance to the garage and powder room.
bethybee
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Mudroom, utitlity room: where do you keep light bulbs, etc.?
Comments (8)Light bulbs are stored on the top shelf of the linen closet. Because almost all house lights are CLFs, there's no reason to keep spare bulbs in convenient reach. Well, something has to go on that high shelf! BTW, the bathroom has a linen closet for towels etc. and jumbo bottles of softsoap and vinegar are kept on the floor. Vinegar and alcohol are my preference for cleaning agents. Spray bottles of cleaning mix and other cleaning supplies (sponges, rags) are together in a basket, easy to grab and carry along. There's enough floor space for a jumbo pack of paper towels and a jumbo pack of TP, too. Tools are in the workshop except for the pliers used only the kitchen, which have their own drawer, shared with lobster picks and nutcrackers, etc. Bottom drawer and out of the way. Beach towels are stored in an airtight box, along with the folding chairs, coolers, beach umbrella. In a back corner of the attic because we only go once or twice a year. A pal goes beaching weekly and stores all the beach paraphenalia in a tall Rubbermaid closet, in the garage. I agree with her theory of keeping much-used things convenient. Wrapping paper, boxes, bows, special cutters, etc. are in special boxes, attic but convenient to the stairs. I tried keeping them in the spare bedroom closet, but there aren't really that many holidays which call for giftwrap. However, if you do a lot of gifts, I'd suggest planning for their own closet, with a built-in drop-down worktop. Sometime ago I saw one that was put it under a stairs; very neat idea. Holiday decorations are each in their own box; attic. I try to keep all materials together in their category; fabric, thread, electric scissors, etc are all kept near the sewing machine. Sewing and craft supplies are best stored in fairly deep drawers (IMO, the only thing a bureau is good for). Because I have tendency to collect yarns (aka compulsive buying), they are stored in airtight boxes in the attic, except for whatever present project which has its own drawer. I really considered storing them in the transparent shoe drawers, all nicely visible, but I do only one project at a time, so having spare skeins convenient is not a priority. The kitchen seems to be the main clutter-magnet. I do try to keep things in groups, such as all the baking pans together and all the canning supplies in one area. New house will have ALL shelves adjustable. One thing I'm looking forward to is having *enough* shelves -- imagine not having to lift 3 pots to get to the one on the bottom, lol. Because I have a knee problem, I can't crouch down to reach things stored in the back of a cabinet. All lower cabinets will have cart-type storage, to make it easy to reach whatever's in 'back' AND provide extra counter-space when needed. The only other clutter seems to be magazine and catalogs. I read the magazine and pass it on. Catalogs are stored alphabetically in a file cabinet with the old one removed whenever a......See MoreIF you dont have a mudroom- where do backpacks go- kids
Comments (34)Hi ajsmama, sorry my camera is away on holidays with DH until Feb. 16th. It is very simple - just a vertical piece of 1/2" wood (not plywood) 60" high and placed 24" away from end of closet wall, then four of the same thickness of wood horizontally about 20" apart (top piece of horizontal wood goes right on top of end piece of vertical piece, other pieces butt up against vertical piece). Like 3 boxes stacked on top of each other, but the first "box" starts 20" off the ground. So each box is 24" wide and about 20" high. The closet rod gets attached directly to the vertical piece so you still have room to hang coats. Sorry, wish I could take a pic for you, hope my explanation makes sense....See MoreUsing space from garage to build mudroom...what do you think?
Comments (15)Wow, that woudl be one tight garage!!!! Here is what I would consider doing instead: Keep the garage the same as the original but add closed cabinets where you are showing your coats/shoes. Lose the single door into the office-- it has the double doors into the goyer anyway. Then make that little hallways space into a smaller mudroom, since you do not need floorspace in the mudroom as much as you need wallspace, and the mudroom in your plan has a lot of wasted doorway/stair space. You could certainly annex some space by making that bathroom smaller and more efficient. You might be able to use some of that office area as well. But honestly, as drawn the mudroom does not seem especially efficient or useful and makes the garage space almost ridiculous if used for cars. That little hallway created by the office is completely useless space right now. You could also add some of that functionality to that are next to the front door-- another closet perhaps? But I keep coming back to the idea of turning that hallway into a real mudroom. How about if you relocated the vanity to across from the toilet? You could put in a pocket door (we have several and love them) and the bathroom would be half its current size, which would be fine since it is just a powder room anyway/ You can get lower profile vanities to save space. Ditch that office door and suddenly you have created a mudroom as large as the one you are considering without ruining the garage. I am picturing the bench area right where that office door is now. Then lots and lots of storage, floor to ceiling. One thing I am big fan of in mudrooms is to have sheves that are very close togetehr to hold many many pairs of shoes. One friend added two more shelves to each of her mudroom cabinets (since shoes are not very high) and then added hooks for jackets and leashes to the outsides of the cabinet doors-- talk about functional! It is very easy to swing open the cabinet doors with all their jackets and grab a pair of shoes. I am afraid that having the garage sp tight would really bother me--- you'd also have to be an incredibly accurate parker!!! But I am wondering if you think repurposing and remodeling the hallway might work........See MoreA bit OT: what flooring for mudroom
Comments (25)HI Kelleg--I'm glad you asked this as this is the sort of "OT" question that people are so often trying to decide along with their kitchen choices. I don't think you said where you live--it's important to consider because of the color of the dirt!! I am from GA originally and there the dirt is red. Now I am in MA and the dirt is dark brown/black. I want to do brick in our mudroom but I will definitely try to mix in a lot of the darker grey/black bricks along with the red ones. I think the porcelain tile that looks like slate is also really nice. We currently have a porcelain tile that is is a pretty light greenish-grey--don't recommend it at all as it shows all dirt, no matter what the color! Up here that would also be the case for a light travertine but if you were dealing more with sand the travertine would prob be great. good luck!...See Moreladyamity
15 years agoacountryfarm
15 years agoA mudroom was a priority for me with 9 children still at home and living in the country. I love mine so much I could see sitting in there reading a good book.
My mudroom/back hall area is quite large. It includes my laundry room, utility bathroom cubbies for each child. It has a dutch door entrance from the back of the house which will be the children's main door in & out.
Here are some pics. Painting is not complete, benches & cubbies will be black.
jmck_nc
15 years agottodd
15 years agopersnicketydesign
15 years agoThanks! Actually, the kids have been really good about putting their things away when they walk in the door. I'm glad that we left the bottoms open. I think that if we would have closed them off or added baskets for shoes they wouldn't be quite so diligent about putting them away. They're really easy to keep clean too. I just vacuum them out and do a quick wipe down with a damp micro fiber cloth if they need it.
I have been looking for some baskets for the sides, but am having a hard time finding that many of them that match in the right size. For now a few of the cubes have "cutsie" stuff in them like this.
ACF...Did you get to moved in yet? I can't wait to see all the pics!!!
zeebee
15 years agoacountryfarm
15 years agoponydoc
15 years agobethybee
15 years ago
Circus Peanut
15 years agojaymielo
15 years agoI have a serious case of mudroom envy whenever I see persnickety and acountryfarms gorgeous mudrooms. Ours is quite a bit more modest. I could have done more cubbies, but then I would have lost our coat closet. I ended up splitting our 7 ft wall in the mud/laundry room into approximately 4 ft of coat closet and 3 ft of cubbies. We have a family of four. I keep off season stuff and extra coats contained in the coat closet and keep stuff we are using regularly in the cubbies.
Here is a picture taken in a pristine state right after we moved in.
We've been in about 6 months now (Gosh, how can that be?) and I really like how the space works for us. The cubbies have a charging station for cell phones. The boys are able to get their shoes and boots into the cubbies below the bench. The main part of the cubbies have 4 hooks each (8 total) for bags and coats and the bench acts as a catch all for library books, my market basket and whatever else is is in transition between coming and going in our house. In the upper cubbies, we stash dog collars, leashes, hats and gloves, my DH's hunting maps, the kids science experiment kit that I don't want them to do alone but I've been too lazy to hide somewhere else. You get the idea... Catchall. Here is a picture today. You can see more "stuff" has landed here in the last 6 months, but it still feels contained and relatively neat to me. I'm just glad stuff ends up here instead of on my kitchen island.
megradek
15 years agoOur mudroom measures 8'9" x 8'2", plus a little hallway and closet area near doors. We have 2 exterior doors (garage & side porch). Not moved in yet, so pardon the dust. hooks, knobs and pulls to go on in the next couple weeks
We live in the north, so room for boots was a must, as well as porcelain flooring that didn't need to be cared for! We allotted space for everyone (2 cabs, 1 locker with 2 hooks, and 1 drawer each). Also included corner shelves (with outlets hidden in there) for the catch-all stuff. I also plan on doing a calendar/school notes, etc. on one of the walls once we move in. Mudroom sink was a must for DH for those occasions when instant hand washing is needed when coming in the door!
hoosiergirl
15 years agoThough not nearly as nice as the mudrooms shown above, I *LOVE* ours!!! We come directly into it from the garage. It's about 7 x 10, and on one side it has a beadboard wall with a bench with baskets in cubbies below (open underneath for easy cleaning) and coat hooks with a shelf above. On the other side is a small broom closet and a utility sink next to it with a window above (so we have nice lighting during daylight hours). The utility sink comes in VERY handy! On the wall just as you come into the mudroom from the garage we have an area with a large magnetic whiteboard and a corkboard so we have plenty of room for papers and photos that come home from school. We also added hooks for keys on the bottom of the corkboard frame. We thought about putting in chargers for phones, etc., but opted to put that in another area.
Here are a couple of photos for you:
{{!gwi}}
Good luck with your project! Have fun with it!
eliza_824
15 years agooceanna
15 years agocallaloo
15 years agoBoy, some of your mudrooms make me drool with envy!
Here's a photo of ours. It had been a mudroom/laundry combination, but was too small to function effectively as both. So I moved the laundry to our unfinished full basement (good for something!) and dedicated the space to a single use. It's no more than 6x8, and connects the garage to the rest of the house.
There are only two of us. We have a pair of open cubes to stow briefcases and handbags. Some organizational cubbies for papers, bills, keys. Some open shelving for shoes. A sink. An outlet so we can have a charging station for phones, Blackberries, Kindles, etc. On the opposite wall (not visible), I have beadboard going up about 6 feet, with a row of hooks at the top for coats (there is also a separate coat closet just inside the house) ... we do have a coat problem (i.e. too many, but still never enough...).
When I have a big party, I use the room as a butler's pantry or beverage center. (Some of the cabinets hold placemats, napkins, etc.).
jaymielo
15 years agoeliza_824, Here is a sketch that I sent to my cabinet maker from which the cabinets were made. Like I said, I had just a little over 36" squeeze the cabinets into. Hope that helps and good luck! Jaymie
persnicketydesign
15 years agokitchendetective
15 years agooceanna
15 years agopersnicketydesign
15 years agobethybee
15 years agomidwestmom
15 years agochipnmel
15 years agoWe have a mudroom exactly 6'x9, with a 'bump-out' closet, door to the garage, and door to the kitchen. So room wasn't really ample enough for "cubbies". We simply built mini racks instead.
My wife and I are pretty hard-core DIY-ers, so we built it out (by hand) the best way we could (functionally and looks) with the limited space afforded.
Before:
After:
eliza_824